As disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 619,675 (Ranken et al.), filed June 11, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,453, it is known that various (hydrocarbylthio)aromatic amines are useful as intermediates in the preparation of biologically-active materials, polyurethanes, etc.; and they can be prepared by reacting an aromatic amine with a hydrocarbyl disulfide in the presence of a catalytic amount of a Lewis acid. The preferred catalysts of Ranken et al. are metal halides, such as aluminum chloride, boron trifluoride, boron trichloride, ferric chloride, and zinc chloride.
It has been found that the preferred catalysts identified by Ranken et al. sometimes have the disadvantages of effecting the desired hydrocarbylthiations at too slow a rate to be completely satisfactory and of sometimes providing too low a yield of product.